The present invention relates to a suspension seat, and particularly, but not exclusively, to a suspension seat for a vehicle.
It is known to provide vehicle seats with their own suspension arrangements, such seats are known as xe2x80x9csuspension seatsxe2x80x9d. These seats are particularly useful in vehicles which are subject to rough conditions, such as industrial vehicles, military vehicles and off-road vehicles. The idea is to provide the seat with suspension independent to the vehicle suspension, to improve comfort of the user. In some circumstances, suspension seats may be a necessity in order to enable the user to be able to control the vehicle in rough conditions.
A problem with fitting a suspension seat in confined spaces such as found in a vehicle is that the suspension arrangement requires additional space, either underneath the seat or behind the seat, and in many vehicles, space is at a premium.
The present invention provides a suspension seat arrangement, comprising a lower frame which is mountable to a seat mounting, an upper frame connected to the lower frame and movable with respect thereto, the upper frame being arranged to mount a seat base, and a suspension arrangement suspending the upper frame with respect to the lower frame, the upper frame and lower frame arrangement being such that the upper frame is able to move downwardly relative to the lower frame so that the upper frame and lower frame become nested together on within the other.
Preferably, the upper frame is able to move downwardly over the lower frame. Because of this, the height of the base of the vehicle seat is preferably minimised and the space required of the seat base is therefore also minimised, whilst still allowing for adequate travel of the upper frame with respect to the lower frame to provide adequate energy absorption by the suspension arrangement. The arrangement can therefore be fitted to a vehicle, for example, maximising the use of the available space.
Preferably, the suspension arrangement is mounted at the back of the seat, preferably, the arrangement has a relatively thin cross section so that the width of the back of the seat is minimised.
The tension of the suspension arrangement is preferably adjustable, preferably by a mechanism adjustable from the side of the seat back.
Preferably, a cover mounted over the suspension arrangement has the advantage of reducing the likelihood of injury to a passenger who may be seated behind the suspension arrangement or the passenger seated in the seat.
The seat base may include a cushion mounted on the upper frame, and preferably a resilient platform is mounted to the upper frame to mount the cushion, to allow additional energy absorption in conjunction with the suspension arrangement.
The lower frame, upper frame and suspension arrangement may be provided on their own, and a complete seat assembly (perhaps a seat originally fitted to a vehicle, for example) can be mounted to the upper frame (eg by bolting). In this way, the seat already in the vehicle can be provided with suspension by utilising a suspension seat arrangement in accordance with the present invention and mounting the original seat to the upper frame. Because of the advantageously minimised dimensions of the suspension seat arrangement of the present invention, this can be done without taking up too much space in the interior of the vehicle.
The present invention further provides a method of modifying a seat to provide suspension to the seat, comprising the step of mounting the seat to a suspension seat arrangement as discussed above.
The present invention further provides a suspension seat arrangement comprising a lower frame which is mountable to a seat mounting, an upper frame which is movable in respect to the lower frame, and a suspension arrangement connected between the upper frame and the lower frame suspending the upper frame with respect to the lower frame, the suspension arrangement including a suspension adjustment mechanism, for adjusting the tension of the suspension, the suspension adjustment mechanism including a mechanism adjustment control which is adjustable from the side of the seat.
The present invention yet further provides a suspension seat arrangement comprising a lower frame which is mountable to the seat mounting, an upper frame movable with respect to the lower frame and a suspension arrangement connected between the upper frame and the lower frame and suspending the upper frame with respect to the lower frame, a cover arrangement being provided to encapsulate the suspension arrangement, the cover arrangement comprising a housing which encapsulates the suspension arrangement.